Packaging machine



Feb. 26 1924.

c. H. MAcDoNALD PACKAGING MACHINE Filed Feb. 20 1919 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Il vll d@ m m m @m a L... ...E m

Emma l Feb. 26,

C. H. MACDONALD PACKAGING MACHINE Filed Feb. 2o. 1919 4 sheets-sheet z Nys- C. H. MACDCNALD Feb. 26, 3924.

PACKAGING MACHINE .Filed Feb. 20. 1919 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Ii I [Y LVNTOR.

c. H. MACDQNALD PACKAGING MACHINE Feb. 26 192%,

, 1919 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 vFiled Feb. 20

Patented Fs. ze, i924* A z T E S CHARLES H. MACDONALD, 0F MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOBQ BY MESNE AS- SIGNMENTS, TO IVERS-LEE COMPANY, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION 0F DELAWARE PACKAGING MACHINE Application led February 20, 1919. Serial No. 278,289.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, CHARLns H. MAcDoiv- Am, a'subject of the Kingdom of Great Britain, and a resident of Montclair, in thev county ot' Essex and State'of New Jersey, have invented an Improvement in Packaging Machines, ofwhich the following is a specification. j

The present invention relates to an improvement in packaging machines and finds its application more particularly to a ma.- chine adapted to assemble units of uniform size in a package of moisture-proof or other material.

One object of the invention is to provide a machine which may utilize a package forming strip treated with a moisture-proofing material such as paraffin, or the like, said material serving not only to protect -the packaged article from moisture but also to effectively seal adjacent portions of said material.

Another object .of the invention is to pro-- vide in a packaging machine, means for effectively'and continuously feeding articles of relatively uniform size and shape, the parts being so, adjust-able and interchangeable that the device ma`y also' accommodate articles of different sizes and shapes by va simple adjustment or interchange of the parts. A further object of the invention is to provide in a packaging machine effective means for dividing a continuous package forming strip into individual packages containing one or more units of the article to be packaged. It is also desirable that ama-- chine of the character under consideration should embody suitable means for making and segregating a predetermined number of individual packaged units automatically and without intervention of the operator, also that means for this purpose be so adjustable that the device may be set to segregate any predetermined number Within a reasonable range of requirements as to divisionof-the packaged units into groups. t

One embodiment of my invention is illustrated in. the drawings accompanying the present specification and in which,

Figure l, is a front elevation,

Figure 2, a detail plan view of a portion of the apparatus illustrating the folding mechanism, a part of the feeding mechanism, and a portion of the crimping and segregating mechanism,

Figure 3, a detail view in longitudinal ver- Y Figure 6, a detail view illustrating the means for supporting the chute or article guiding slide,

Figure 7, a view partl vertical section vof the strip feeding means,

Figure 8, another view partly 1n transverse vertical section of the strip feeding means shown in Figure 7,

Figure 9, a detail view illustrating partly in section the package crimping andstripsevering mechanism,

Figure 10, a view partly in section illustrating the crimping and severing mechanism Shown in' Figure 9,

Figure l1, a view partly in section showing a form of cam adapted to be used in connection with the severing mechanism shown in Figures-9 and 10, i

Figure l2, a view in central vertical section of a hopper for feeding articles to be packaged to an article selecting and guiding device at a predetermined Vand adjustable rate,

Figure 13, a fragmentary view illustrating another portion of the hopper shown in Figure 12, illustrating its relation to a receiving portion of a guiding and distributing member, and,

Figures '14, 15, and 16, illustrate details of parts of the segregating and counting mechanism.

Referring to Figure 1, the machine embodying my invention may include a suitable frame l adapted to support a spindle 2 upon which4 is mounted suitable means for supporting a roll of package fprming material, preferably a paper Vstock treated on one side with paraffin. A web 3 of the package forming material may be drawn from the supply and presented in eifective article receiving relation to the article supply by being passed over a guide roll 4: journaled at 5 in an adjustable bracket 6. The web 3 may be withdrawn from the supply by any suitable feeding means here indicated as including a -pair of cooperating traction chains 7 and 8, chain 7 being mounted 011 .in longitudinal l sprockets 9 and 10, and chain 8 on sprockets 11 and 12.

vinterposed between the strip feeding means and the guiding roller 4 are suitable article selecting and depositing means including an article guiding chute 13 and a picker 14, said means being adapted to deposit upon the moving web of the package forming material a. plurality of articles in spaced relation. Between the depositing means just described and the strip feeding means I provide suitable folding mechanism including a. plurality of strip guiding and deflecting members 15 preferably positioned and adjusted to effect a gradual folding in of the articles to be packaged between layers of the packaging material.

The supply of articles to be packaged may be carried in a suitable hopper 16 adapted to discharge said articles at a predetermined rate into article distributing and guiding means comprising a receiver 17 operatively connecte-d with the chute 13 and adapted to feed into said chute one at a time the articles to be packaged.

The preferred form of an embodiment of my invention includes suitable means for sealing together adjacent portions of the article enclosing strip to form a plurality of compartments adapted to contain one. or more of the articles to be packaged, said means comprising a pair of cooperating rolls 18 and 19 mounted adjacent to the discharging end of the strip feeding mechanism and synchronized with respect to said feeding means. The rolls 18 and 19 may include any desired number of crimping and sealing segments 20 having circumferentially extending embossing projections on the peripheral surfaces preferably arranged in such a manner that the projecting portions of the embossing on one side of said member 20 will register with corresponding depressions in the moperating segments .20 of the other roll. To facilitate the introduction and removal of the ackage forming strip, the crimping mechanlsm also includes means for readily separating the two rolls 0r throwing them out of operative crimping engagement with each other.

Where it is desired to divide the continuous package into a num'ber of relatively small packages containing any desired number of articles, suitable severing means may be provided. For this purpose, I have illustrated a severing means including blades 21 mounted in the diametrically opposite segments 2O of the roll 18 said blades-being arranged to sever this strip during the operation of crimping and across a crimped portion of the strip so that portions of the package adjacent to the severing will be sealed as effectively as intermediate crimped portions where there are such. Obviously, the number of cuts per unit of strip length can readily be varied, as by varying the number of knives and the number of crimping portions of the sealing mechanism.

n vIn order to provide means for automatically grouping a predetermined number of pac ages, the apparatus may include aI rotatable receiving hopper 23 having partitions 24 separating its several compartments, said hopper 'beingmountcd in such a manner that one of said compartments will always be in position to receive packages as they are severed from the continuous strip. By mea-ns of a pawl and ratchet mechanism interposedA between said hopper and its actuating means,-the hopper may be turned part of a revolution after the severing of a predetermined number of packages, the amount of said turning 'being suflicient to discharge the severed packages from said hopper and to bring another compartment into package receiving relation to the severing device.

It is contemplated that apparatus of the character hereinabove described may be actuated` by any suitable means such as a vmotor 25 adapted to drive a main shaft 26 having a worm 27 arranged to mesh with a gear 28. Suitable clutch mechanism of conventional type indicated at 29 may be arranged in operative relation to a clutch sliding yoke 30 adapted to be moved by a handoperated lever 31, said driving parts being indicated in dotted lines in Figure 1. When the clutch is in, gear 28 drives a pinion 32 mounted on a shaft 33. From this pinion, power is transmitted to the article distributing and strip feeding portions of the apparatus hereinabove mentioned. To actuate the article distributing and depositing portion ofy the apparatus, pinion 34 mounted on shaft 35 meshes with a gear 36 mounted on a shaft 37 which drives the article depositing member or picker 38 and also carries a worm 39 arranged to mesh with a Vworm gear 40.V Referring now to Figure 12, gear 40 forms part of a collar 41 having transverse slots 42 adapted to receive slidable members 43 arranged to engage the threads of a screw 44 enclosed in a tube or casing 45, said screw being retained against rotation by means of an inwardly projecting detent, not shown, adapt` ed to engage a longitudinally disposed slot 46 in said screw. The hopper 16 is provided with a false bottom 47 having a recessed portion 48 adapted to receive a correspondingly shaped reduced portion 49 of the screw 44 whereby the false bottom and the screw are suitably operated together so that the bottom may move upwardly with the upward thrust of the screw. When the worm gear 40 is actuated by means of the worm 39 mounted on shaft 37, it is contemplated that the slidable members 43 will bear against the under side of the thread of said screw and push the same upwardly,

thus forcing the contents of the hopper steadily toward the top and the discharge opening of said hopper. When any given supply of articles has been fed out of said hopper, the false bottom may be returned to its original lowermost position by Withdrawing the slidable members 43 from engagement with the thread of the screw 44 4whereupon the screw will return to the norposition illustrated in Figment of the screw and the false bottom by.

means of a relatively gradual orrelatively steep pitched thread, respectively. 1n order that one screw may be removed and another inserted, the enclosing tube 45 may be provided at its lower end with a removable cap 49 having a threaded portion adapted to engage a similarly threaded portion of the tube in any suitable conventlonal manner. To the upper end of the tube 45 is secured a disk 50 provided' with curved slots 51 adapted to receive and guide lugs 52 projecting from the sliding members of fingers 43'. A collar 53 detachably secured to the inner portion of the collar 41 rovides a fiange adapted to support the disk 5() and thereby the tube 45. The collar 41 is in turn supported upon ange 54 forming a part of the framework of the machine by means of a flanged disk 55 Xed to the plate 56 which may be secured to and support the .collar 41 by means of screws or other suitable means connecting said parts. When the screw 44 has reached the upper limit of its course, thev projection or detent above mentioned in connection with slot 46 may be withdrawn from said slot by manipulating a suitable knob 57 (Figure 1). By turning the casing or. tube 45 the sides of the slots in disk 50 bear against the projections 52 of the fingers 43 and move the'ends of said lingers outwardly and out of engagement with the thread of the screw which is then free to return to its original position by force of gravity, or to be removed entirely from the casing if desired. Ordinarily, when the intention is simply to have the screw return to its lowermost position it will not be necessary to withdraw the projection or detent from engagement with slot 46.

As shown in Figure 13, the hopper 16 discharges into the distributing receiver 17 which may be provided with a relatively inclined wall 58 and a substantially vertical wall 59. The lowermost portion ofwall 58 is deformed to form a substantially vertical section 60 so related to the wall 59 as tovform y a selective guideway proportioned and vadapted to accommodate a single row of articles to be packaged. Referring to Figure 1, said guideway discharges into-a vertically disposed undercut slot 61 of the chute`13, allowing individual articles to enter said slot in succession, each resting upon the article immediately preceding it. Referring to Figure 5, the bottom of the chute 13 may be curved in such a manner as to bring its discharge end adjacent to the operative portion38 of the depositing member or picker 14. To facilitate the constant and regular feed of articles to the discharge end of the chute, means are provided for agitating the member 17 and a portion of the vertical slot or chute 13. As indicated in Figures 5 and 6, the vertical portion of chute 13 is supported in an expansible collar 62 mounted on a shaft 63. A bell crank lever 64is fixed tosaid' shaft and is pivotally connected to a a i spur 65 (Figure 1) which is operated by a shaft 66 said shaft having a spiral gear 67 arranged to mesh lwith a spiral gear 68 mounted on the main shaft 26. An eccentric cam 69 fixed to said shaft and rotatable therewith engages and actuates a cam housing 70 to which the spur 65 is attached, thus giving to said spur an endwise oscillato motion, which motion is transmitted through the bell crank lever 64 to the vertical portion of the chute 13. The lower portion of the chute 13 is relatively fixed, being supported, as shown in Figure 5, by means of a set screw 72.threaded in a portion of the frame. The curved undercut slot 71 of the lower portion of chute 13 registers with and forms a continuation of a similar slot 61 of the upper portion of said chute so thatthe passage of articles through the chute may not be impeded. lVhere the article supportin bottom of the receiving member 17 is su stantially horizontal and normal to the direction of the slot 61, it is contemplated that the articles, if they are of regular and uniform shape, such as medicinal tablets of conventional form, will readily enter the chute one at a time by reason of the agitation of the chute andthe receiver which causes the articles to be moved back and forth across the slot opening.

At the discharge end of curved slot 71, an article supporting projection 73 overlies the path of the web 3 and is adapted lto present individual articles in succession in the path of radially extending members or picker arms 74 mounted in the rotatablepicker 14, said picker` being secured to the shaft 37, actuated in the manner hereinabove described, which causes the' picker arms 74 to displacevarticles in succession and at uniformly spaced intervals from the Vplatform 75 to the moving web 3. i

After the article has been deposited' upon the moving strip or web, it is carriedthereb to a series of folders 15 (Figures 2 and 3g. 1n a preferred embodiment of my invention, these folding members will be transversely adjustable and removable in order to facilitate the insertion or removal of the strip if necessary. For this purpose, a strip supporting plate or bed is provided having transverse undercut slots 76 adapted to receive and retain the folding members 15 each of which may be threaded to receive a setV screw 77 having a collar 78 adapted to engage a recess 79 in the plate 75. The set screw may conveniently be operated by means of a knurled knob 80. Y

The strip feeding means hereinabove referred to may be driven from the pinion 32 which meshes with a gear 81 arranged to actuate an idler 82, said idler in turn being in mesh with a gear 83 mounted on a shaft 84 (Figure 1). The gear 81 is -mounted loosely on shaft 85 in order that the feeding mechanism may operate with a pulling effect rather than with a pushing effect as would be the case if shaft 85 were rotated by the gear 81 direct. The upper member of the feeding device is actuated by means of a gear 86 mounted on shaft 87 and meshing with gear 83. Power is transmitted through shafts 84 and 87 to the sprockets 11 and 9, respectively, which in turn transmit power to the chains 8 and 7, respectively, thus driving the rear sprockets 10 and 12.

Referring now to Figures 7 and 8, the strip 3 with articles enclosed therein in spaced relation is gripped between cross members 88 of the above chains, the parts being so positioned that a pair of cooperating cross members will engage the strip between adjacent enclosed articles, thus providing a secure grip on the strip without injuring the contents of the package. The chains may be held taut and in yielding engagement with the strip by suitable means including a platen 89 secured to a portion of the framework and arranged between the upper and lower courses of chain 7 in such a manner that the upward movement of the lowermost links will be limited. A second platen 90 is arranged in spring pressed engagement with the lower portion of the' upper course of chain 7. To secure yielding engagement of the cooperating cross members 88 with the strip, a spring pressed platen 91 is provided and arranged to bear against the underside of the upper course of chain 8. A downwardly directed spring pressed platen 92 engages the upperportion of the lower course of chain 8 and cooperates with the platen 91 to maintain effective operative spacing of said lower course from the upper course. As shown in Figure 1, the platen 91 is provided with a projecting lug 93 adapted to engage an eccentric cam 94 mounted on a stud 95 in the block 96. While instaat the platen 91 is normally in spring pressed engagement with the cross members as de-l scribed, the degree of pressure exerted by said platen mayl conveniently be regulated by manipulating the eccentric cam just described, said pressure being increased when the lug 93 is forced toward the path of the strip between adjacent article containing compartments. The strip severing blades 21 may be mountedvon a collar 99 adapted to slide on and be rotated by the shaft 97. The free ends of the knives extend longitudinally through slots 100 and 101 in the segments 20 and are adapted to register with and extend into similar slots 102 and 103, respectively, of the roll 19. Attached toV or forming a part of the framework is a cam 104 along the curved surfaces of which portions of the collar 99 are adapted to travel in yielding engagement while said collar is being rotated by shaft 97 The roll 18 may be recessed to receive a coiled spring 105 positioned to bear against one side of the collar 99 and to hold it in yielding engagement with the cam surfaces of said cam 104. A suitable key may be provided to guide the collar 99 and to transmit thereto the rotating movement of shaft 97. In order that the operator of the apparatus may readily remove the strip from between the roll 18 and 19 at any stage of the operation, roll 19 is mounted in such a manner as to be held in yielding engagement with roll 20. For this purpose the shaft 98 may be journaled in bearing 107, said bearing being carried' by a bell crank lever 108 pivot-ally mounted at 109 and having its free end 110 normally thrust outwardly by means of a suitable coiled spring 111 seated in the recessY 112 of the frame or a bracket secured thereto. The bearing 107 may be provided with a lianged portion 114 adapted to receive a set screw 115. A flange .116 adjacent to the flange 114 is interposed in the path of said screw 115. When the latter is moved toward the flange 116 it forces the bearing 107 away from said ange, thus carrying cured near the inner end of said shaft 118.A

A friction plate or disk 139 may be held in yielding engagement with one end of said hopper 23 by means of a suitable tenslon spring 120 seated against a terminal collar or other equivalent part of the shaft 118. A ratchet 121 is lsecured to the inner end of the hopper and engages a spring pressed pawl 122 pivotally mounted on a pawl carrying member 123 which also carries a second pawl 124 in operative engagement with pawl 122. A ratchet Wheel 125 is loosely mounted on shaft 118 and is -engaged by one end of 'a torsion spring 119 (Figure 1), the other end of said spring being secured to a fixed portion of the apparatus. The shaft 98 may be provided with a collar having a cam slot 126 positioned to receive a lug 127 projecting from a push pawl 128 and to impart reciprocating motion thereto. Said push pawl has its free end positioned to engage the teeth of ratchet 125, pushing said ratchet on its advance motion one notch for every package severed by the severing mechanism. This rotation of the ratchet Wheel 125 is made against the yielding resistance of torsion sprin 119 each incrementof advance vbeing retained by means of the pawl 124 which operates as a latch until the trip pin 129, affixed to said ratchet Wheel engages the free end of pawl 122 thus releasing the opposite end from engagement with ratchet 121 and displacing pawl 124 from engagement with ratchet 125. This release permits ratchet wheel 125 to resume its original position by reason of the stored up energy in torsion spring 119,l the return movement of said ratchet Wheel being limited by a pro,- jecting stop 130 which engages a lug 131 of the pawl carrying member 123. Simultaneously, the ratchet wheel 121, being freefrom arresting engagement with the spring pressed pawl122, permits the hopper 23 to be rotated by means of the friction clutch suiiciently to discharge the severed packages from one of the compartments and to present a new compartment in package receiving relation to the severing mechanism, said relation becoming e'ective when the hopper and its attached ratchet 121 are again arrested by reason of the spring pressed end of pawl 122 coming into detaining engagement with the next shoulder of said ratchet. It is contemplated that any desired number of perforations 132 o`r other suitable lug receiving means may be made in the ratchet wheel 125 and adapted to receive trip members 129 which may be positioned at will to bring about the tripping of pawl 122 upon the severing and depositing of any predetermined number of packa es.

In using a device substantie y responding to the foregoing description it is possible to employ a supply of paper having l paraffin on one side, preferably that which engages the article after it is deposited on the moving web. When the strip feeding and article depositing parts are carefully adjusted and synchronized, the spacing of the articles on the web ma be so regulated that they Will be carried tlirough the feeding mechanism without injury. Where 'it is desired to change the spacing between articles, the operation of the article de ositing mechanism may be speeded up or s owed down relatively to the s eed of the web or vice versa and other o vious adjustments and interchanges may beeffected to extend the utility of the apparatus to articles of various sizes, shapes and other characteristics.

As to thel character of the package formed, it ma be a continuous strip containingy a plura ity of articles in separate compartments or it may be a portion of the strip forming a sin le compartment containing one article. bvious adjustmentsv of the severing, feeding and depositing mechanisms will permit a wide range of variety in the character of the packages. Where the packages are to be packed in a container holding a certain predetermined number, the counting mechanism may be adjusted to segregatel groups of the desired number.

' I claim as my invention:

1. In a packing machine, the combination of means for forming a package comprising a continuous strip of separated article holding compartments, means for severing said strip at predetermined intervals, and means for accumulating severed portions of said strip in predetermined numbers, including a multi-compartment hopper arranged in position to receive said severed portions* in one compartment at a time, and means cooperating with the severing mechanism for moving said hopper to present another oompartment in severed portion receiving relation to the severing means periodically upon the severing of a predetermined number of portions. j

2. In a packaging machine the combination of means for advancing a continuous strip, means for severing the strip at predetermined intervals, and means for accumulating severed portions of said strip in predetermined quantities including a plurality of containers for severed portions arranged to move successively into severed portion receiving position with respect to the severing means, and means cooperating with the severing means to periodically move said containers upon the severing of a predetermined number of portions.

3. In a packaging machine the combination of means for advancing a continuous strip, means for severing the strip at predetermined intervais, and means for accusvely into severed portion receiving relamuleting severed portions of said strip in tion to the severing means. predetermined quantities including a pluin testimony whereof, I have signed my l@ rality of containers mounted on a, rotatable name to this specification this 14th day of 5 support and means operative upon the sev-` February,`1919.

ering of a predetermined number of por- Y tions for moving said containers succesi CHARLES H. MACDONALD. 

